Ministry of Defence

Navy: Expenditure

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 13 September (HL Deb, col 1390), what the long-term strategy of the Royal Navy's expenditure plans is.

Earl Howe: The Royal Navy has a long-term strategy for its expenditure which is managed through the Annual Budget Cycle, a process that focuses on delivering a balanced, affordable Defence Plan over a ten year time period. This is aligned with Defence policy and the direction provided by Strategic Defence and Security Reviews, which occur every five years.

RFA Diligence

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contingency plans have been put in place in the event of a mechanical failure of one of the Trafalgar Class submarines due to the withdrawal of the only Royal Navy repair ship RFA Diligence.

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 13 September (HL Deb, col 1389), when a Royal Navy vessel requires repair and on-board engineers are unable to resolve the problem without the help of other, more specialist, engineers how this will be achieved without the support of RFA Diligence.

Earl Howe: Should on-board engineers be unable to resolve a problem with any ship or submarine, there is a range of ways in which operational maintenance and repair can be delivered. This can include the deployment of a Royal Navy repair and maintenance party, or utilising well-established commercial arrangements and international agreements, such as the use of other countries' bases and facilities. This is particularly the case where resources and facilities are not available within the Ministry of Defence or are more effectively provided by a third party.

RFA Diligence

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 13 September (HL Deb, col 1389), whether, and if so when, they are planning to provide an update regarding the concerns raised by Lord Boyce.

Earl Howe: I have reflected on the concerns raised by the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Boyce, regarding the sale of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Diligence.The Royal Navy continues to work with industry and is investing to ensure that Service personnel have the required skills in diagnostics and repair to provide this future support. More widely, consideration of different and innovative ways of providing that support to deliver the best value for money for the taxpayer is an ongoing process. The Royal Navy is confident that, through a combination of the measures that I outlined in response to the oral question by Lord Boyce on 13 September 2016, the required support will be available.

Artillery: Procurement

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the objectives of the Ministry of Defence projects (1) Strike 155, and (2) Project Congreve.

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are proposing to introduce a new towed artillery system; and if so, what that system will be.

Earl Howe: The Army is undertaking a scoping project known as 'Medium Wheeled Gun System' to examine 155mm calibre towed and wheeled self-propelled options to provide a medium weight fire support capability within the future Strike Brigades. At the concept stage it was previously known as Strike 155; no decisions regarding the choice of system have yet been taken. Project Congreve was a study conducted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and initiated in 2014. Its objective was to determine options for all future surface-to-surface fire systems capability. The work on the Medium Wheeled Gun System has been informed by Project Congreve and the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Future Large Aircraft

Lord Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the agreement by the partner countries of the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey to lend Airbus Military €1.5 billion to support production of the A400M aircraft, how many of those aircraft (1) have been purchased by, and (2) are on order from, each of those partner countries.

Earl Howe: The six A400M partner nations have agreed to procure 170 aircraft from Airbus Defence & Space. Aircraft deliveries commenced in 2013 and are expected to continue into the next decade. Please see below the number of aircraft delivered, and the number ordered but yet to be delivered, as at 21 October 2016.  Partner nationAircraft deliveredTotal ordered aircraftBelgium08 (including 1 aircraft for Luxembourg)France1050Germany553Spain027Turkey310United Kingdom1122

Syria: Military Aid

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have supplied any anti-aircraft weapons to rebel forces fighting in Syria.

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are providing any military training to rebel forces fighting in Syria.

Earl Howe: The UK participated in the original US-led 'Train and Equip' programme for vetted Syrian opposition forces fighting Daesh in 2015. The Ministry of Defence announced on 25 October 2016, that up to 20 UK personnel will be deploying to locations in the region, but outside Syria, to contribute to the refined and restarted programme. Their role will be to train selected members of vetted moderate Syrian opposition groups in the skills they need to continue to take the fight to Daesh. The UK is not participating in the "Equip" element of this programme.

Armed Forces: Females

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 February (HL6098), what progress they have made towards identifying and costing a long-term solution to the full integration of female soldiers in close combat roles in the Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force Regiment.

Earl Howe: On 8 July 2016, the former Prime Minister (Rt Hon David Cameron MP) announced that following a recommendation by the Chief of the General Staff the previous exclusions on women serving in the Royal Marines (RM), Royal Armoured Corps (RAC), Infantry and Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regt) have now been lifted. This applies to both Regular and Reserve units.The Ministry of Defence (MOD) will initially open certain RAC units from November 2016, with all other Ground Close Combat roles opening from 2018. This will enable implementation to be rolled out in a deliberate, responsible and methodical manner that will allow mitigation measures, such as updated Physical Employment Standards, to be put in place.Delivering the necessary organisational changes will be covered within current programmes and initiatives. Infrastructure changes across Defence will be achieved through existing development strategies and will not impact on the successful delivery of this policy change. The amount of funding required for longer term infrastructure solutions will be dependent on the number of women posted to particular establishments.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 September (HL1842), whether any of the soldiers who fought in Musa Qala in 2006 were considered for medals within the timescale of the five-year rule.

Earl Howe: The Ministry of Defence does not retain unsuccessful recommendations for Military Honours and Awards. It is, therefore, not possible to ascertain whether any Service personnel who fought in Musa Qala in 2006 were recommended for an award outside of the five-year rule.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Armed Conflict

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the UN Secretary General's recommendation to set up an international, independent investigatory body into violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the war in Yemen; and if so, what assistance they are offering.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK supported a resolution reached at the Human Rights Council in September which commits to increase the number of international human rights experts in the Yemen Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation, making clear the independent mandate for OHCHR to conduct their own investigations. The resolution also maintains the technical cooperation programme for OHCHR to strengthen the National Commission in Yemen, which we believe will make a difference on the ground. We look forward to reports from the OHCHR next year.The Government want to see Saudi Arabia investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) which are attributed to them; and for their investigations to be thorough and conclusive. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL, and that any lessons learned will be acted upon.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the implications for the sale of UK arms to Saudi Arabia of the most recent Saudi-led airstrike which killed over 140 people at a funeral party in Sana'a on 8 October.

Baroness Goldie: The UK Government are deeply concerned by the conflict in Yemen, including recent events in Sana’a. As part of the careful risk assessment for the licensing of arms exports to Saudi Arabia, we keep the situation under careful and continued review. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application.

Egypt: Foreign Relations

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Prime Minister had a bilateral with President Sisi of Egypt at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou; and if so, who requested the meeting and why.

Baroness Goldie: No bilateral meeting between The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) and President Sisi took place at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. The two leaders did meet at the UN General Assembly in New York, where they discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the latest breaches of the ceasefire in Ukraine by Russian forces near Marinpol.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK is urging all sides to meet their commitments to a full, comprehensive and sustained ceasefire and ensure that the Special Monitoring Mission has full, safe and unhindered access.

EU Countries: British Nationals Abroad

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the average number of British citizens who are in other EU countries, either temporarily or permanently, at any one time.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: United Nation migration statistics from 2015 estimate that there are around 1.2 million British nationals living in the EU.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Sudan Unit and the British Ambassador to the Republic of Sudan last engaged with opposition groups in Sudan, in particular those members of the Sudan Call alliance; and, following the signing of the Sudan Roadmap Agreement, whether a delegation from the Sudan Call alliance will be invited to London in order to deepen political engagement with that group.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Both the UK Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Sudan engage with opposition groups regularly, most recently at a joint meeting with the Sudan Call alliance of opposition groups in Khartoum in September. The UK Special Representative also met with representatives of the National Umma Party, including Sadiq El Mahdi, in Addis Ababa on 23 September. We will continue to develop our relations with these groups both in Sudan and elsewhere.

Nigeria: Boko Haram

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that ammunition used by Boko Haram in Nigeria is manufactured in Sudan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: ​We are not aware of any reports that Sudanese-manufactured ammunition has been used by Boko Haram. We fully support the EU arms embargo on Sudan as well as the UN arms embargo on Darfur.

Horn of Africa: EU Immigration

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to evaluate the use of  €46 million earmarked for the Khartoum Process; what benchmarks and agreed criteria have been developed to guide the Process; and what procedures have been put in place to monitor, audit, and review the efficacy of the Process.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Khartoum Process does not have a defined single fund, but draws from several different sources of EU funding; including the Better Migration Management Fund and the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.The UK, as the current Chair of the Khartoum Process, works closely with the Secretariat to maintain a map of current and proposed projects, and ensure effective coordination and monitoring. The European Commission has responsibility for assessing implementation against the Valetta benchmarks and outcomes, and conducting the full audit and review of the EU funding programmes.

Horn of Africa: EU Immigration

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures have been put in place to ensure that EU funds committed to the Khartoum Process are not embezzled by corrupt officials; and whether they have investigated whether there has been collusion between Sudanese security officials and human traffickers.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: ​All EU funds committed to the Khartoum Process are managed by Member States' Development Agencies or International Organisations. No funding will be channelled through the beneficiary countries' government structures.We are deeply concerned by the reports of collusion between Sudanese security officials and human traffickers, and have raised this issue directly with the government of Sudan as part of our wider engagement on migration. The UK is supporting the Sudanese judiciary to implement new anti-trafficking legislation by helping them improve their understanding of both this and the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role armed militias play in enforcing Sudan’s commitments under the Khartoum Process; whether they are being used to enforce border controls and to capture migrants; and what action the regime took, under its commitments in the Doha Document for Peace, 2012, to disarm militias.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are concerned by the reported use of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to tackle migration in Sudan and have raised these concerns with the government of Sudan, most recently during the visit of the UK Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan in September. We have also made clear that our cooperation on migration will necessarily be guided by our human rights principles. The EU has also raised the role of the RSF with the government of Sudan and has made absolutely clear that no funding aligned with the Khartoum Process will be provided to them.The government of Sudan has undertaken some of its disarmament commitments under the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), but together with our international partners we continue to urge them to do more. The UK is a member of the DDPD's Implementation Follow-Up Commission (IFC), which we use to press for progress on disarmament and other areas of the DDPD's implementation. The most recent meeting of the IFC was in May 2016.

Israel: Golan Heights

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning (1) the status of, and (2) the distribution of water resources from, the Golan Heights.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: ​The UK regularly raises the issue of water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the Israeli authorities, including stressing the urgent need for Israel to take immediate and practical measures to ensure fair distribution of water in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel: Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the repatriation of Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: While we have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this specific issue, we continue to be clear with both sides that there must be a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees as part of a negotiated two-state solution.

Tunisia: Travel Information

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review current travel advice for Tunisia, in the light of the improving situation there.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Our first priority is to ensure British Nationals abroad are safe. As with all countries, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice for Tunisia is under constant review. We are working with Tunisian authorities to help improve their ability to mitigate against the threats to British nationals, including through protective security, airport security and incident response. We will change travel advice as soon as the threat level and security situation permit.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of deaths caused by the naval blockade of Yemeni ports; and what part the UK has played in that blockade.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: There is no blockade, although some measures were put in place to prevent the flow of arms to Yemen. We welcomed the Government of Yemen's announcement in October 2015 that all of Yemen's ports were open.It is vital that commercial shipments of food and fuel enter the country to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis. That is why the Department for International Development is providing £1.42 million to support the establishment of the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), which became operational on 5 May. It is successfully verifying, and where necessary inspecting, ships in line with UNSCR 2216 (2015). This should speed up the clearance process for ships and improve commercial confidence, increasing supply and in turn aiming to reduce the price of basic goods. We call on all parties to facilitate and respect the operation of UNVIM.

Syria: Human Rights

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what preparations the international community has made for the protection of the human rights of women and minorities in Syria in a post-Assad regime.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK is clear that Syria needs a political transition leading to a more accountable, inclusive, representative form of governance than the Asad regime. A fundamental element of transition needs to be a commitment to protect Syria's minorities and to promote the role of women in the political process and beyond.Within the International Syria Support Group and in our close work with the moderate opposition, we promote the inclusion and safeguarding of minorities and women as the political process progresses.The international community is working with the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee. At a launch hosted by the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) in September, they set out a progressive and compelling vision for political transition in Syria, emphasising among other things their commitment to the protection of all components of Syrian society and to promoting women's rights.The Government has provided £7 million in direct support to gender related projects in Syria since the start of the crisis. For financial year 2016/17, we are due to spend a further £1.9m. Across the 2016 programme, all projects are gender sensitive, with action being taken to raise awareness of gender equality issues, promote the empowerment of women, and gather evidence and accountability for sexual and gender-based violence.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Infant Mortality

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made to achieve the goal to end, by 2030, preventable deaths of new-borns and children under five years of age, adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.

Lord Bates: Global progress, which began prior to 2015, continues to be made on ending preventable newborn and child deaths, with significant support from the UK government. It is too early to quantify how much progress has been made since September 2015.To accelerate progress and help to meet the Sustainable Development Goal targets the UK government supported the development of, and signed a commitment to, the updated Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent Health.We continue to invest in improving health systems in our focal countries to ensure that mothers and newborns can receive better quality care at birth, so improving their chances of survival. We also invest in care for children under the age of 5, for example through the prevention and treatment of malaria and other childhood diseases.

Syria: Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the amount of aid expenditure in respect of refugees from Syria since 1 April 2012 in each of (1) Lebanon, (2) Jordan, (3) Turkey, and (4) EU Member States; and in each category how much was routed through (a) state governments, (b) UN agencies, (c) EU agencies, and (d) voluntary organisations of all kinds.

Lord Bates: UK funding in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey targets not only Syrian refugees, but also vulnerable members of the communities hosting these refugees.To date, the UK has pledged a total of £2.3 billion to the Syria crisis response, to be allocated and spent by Department for International Development (DFID) implementing partners between 2012 and 2020. Of this, £1.7 billion has already been allocated to partners working in the region, including £1.1 billion in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. £285 million of this is a contribution to the EU Turkey Refugee Facility, in addition to the UK’s contribution via the EU budget, to be spent between 2016 and 2019.Table 1 (attached) provides a summary of how much DFID Syria Crisis Response funding has been spent (disbursed out of DFID bank accounts) up to the end of financial year 2015/2016, to implementing partners in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey by partner type.DFID has also allocated £54.5 million as part of its Mediterranean Crisis Response since October 2015. Over one million refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean into Europe in 2015, half a million of whom were Syrians escaping war. This funding has not only reached refugees from Syria, but also beneficiaries from other nationalities. Table 2 (attached) shows the Mediterranean Crisis Response funding DFID has allocated to be spent in each country by implementing partner.



PQ HL2273 - Table 1 & Table 2 
(Word Document, 24.5 KB)

Syria: International Assistance

Baroness Suttie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the $6 billion pledged at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in London on 4 February has now been (1) delivered, and (2) dispersed in the recipient countries; and what plans there are to achieve further financial support, particularly for under-funded areas, such as the UN-coordinated humanitarian inter-agency appeals.

Lord Bates: The Department for International Development has set up a tracking mechanism that will report on the delivery of all the financial commitments made at the February 2016 Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in London, including humanitarian and development funding and loans. As of 21 September 2016, of the $6 billion grants pledged for 2016 at the Conference, donors had committed $6.3 billion and delivered $4.7 billion.The UK continues to work with other London Conference co-hosts to urge donors to deliver on the commitments they made in London and to consider what more can be done to meet the funding gaps of the UN appeals. This was discussed at the UN General Assembly in New York in September, where the Secretary of State for International Development co-chaired a Conference follow up event.

Department for Education

English Language: Education

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the costs of teaching English to pupils who do not have English as their first language, broken down by region, in each of the last three years.

Lord Nash: Under current funding arrangements for schools in England, local authorities devise funding formulae through which to distribute funding to schools in their localities. One of the factors local authorities can include is ‘English as an additional language’ (EAL). In 2014-15, a total of £244 million was allocated through this factor to school budgets. In 2015-16, it was £267 million, and in 2016-17, £282 million. The table below provides these figures by region. These figures do not represent the cost of supporting pupils with EAL. The amounts form part of the school’s core budget and it is then for school leaders to determine how best to use their whole budget so that all pupils can reach their full potential. We will introduce a national funding formula from 2018-19 so that funding is fair and matched to need. Our first consultation, launched earlier this year, proposed that the formula should include an EAL factor. We will set out the precise detail of the formula in our second consultation, to be published later this autumn. Table 1: The amount of the schools Dedicated Schools Grant local authorities allocate to the EAL factor in the last three years, by region RegionAmount allocated to EAL factor 2014-15Amount allocated to EAL factor 2015-16Amount allocated to EAL factor 2016-17East Midlands£11m£13m£13mEast of England£20m£23m£24mLondon£105m£112m£115mNorth East£5m£5m£5mNorth West£27m£30m£33mSouth East£29m£32m£35mSouth West£10m£12m£13mWest Midlands£17m£18m£19mYorkshire and the Humber£20m£22m£24mGrand total£244m£267m£282m

Ministry of Justice

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the increasing number of benefits appeals, notably for Personal Independence Payments and the greater success rates where appeals are heard by tribunals at which the claimant appears, what their reasons are for proposing to reduce the number of cases in which an appellant may appear in person and in which the panel includes a member with direct experience of the relevant benefit; and what savings they estimate will arise from that change.

Lord Keen of Elie: The Government is investing close to £1 billion to reform and digitise our courts and tribunals to deliver swifter and more certain justice. Technology will be at the forefront of our reforms but specific support will be provided to ensure tribunals remain accessible to all and physical hearings will continue to be used to resolve many cases. The impact assessment published alongside the Transforming our Justice System consultation paper sets out our estimate of potential savings from tribunal panel composition reform based on possible future scenarios. The panel composition reforms will ensure that the most appropriate panel is always selected to hear a case. As now, relevant expertise will always be available where needed, regardless of how a case is resolved. The Senior President of Tribunals will continue to determine when panel members are used.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Ofcom Content Board

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the Ofcom Content Board are former employees of the BBC.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: There are 13 members of Ofcom’s Content Board which advises the Ofcom Board and Executive on content matters, covering television, radio and video-on-demand quality and standards. The Board’s members have experience from across the broadcasting industry including Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and S4C. 9 of the current 13 members have previously been employed by or have worked for the BBC. The amount of experience and the seniority of these roles varies considerably within that.

BBC: Royal Charters

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 12 October (HL Deb, col 1996), whether they will clarify when the noble Lords can expect to receive written responses to the points they raised during the debate.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: A letter was sent to the Noble Lord and deposited in the House of Lords Library on Thursday 21st October.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Horses: Conservation

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to increase the population of endangered Suffolk Punch horses and to ensure that the breed does not become extinct.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Suffolk Punch is currently listed in the register of UK Native Breeds at Risk, eligible for support under the Rural Development Programme for England agri-environment schemes, and the UK Breeds at Risk register for breeds that may be exempted from precautionary culling in the event of an exotic notifiable disease outbreak. Defra published the first UK Farm Animal Genetic Resources Breed Inventory in 2002, and updates the population data for breeds that are resident in the UK at regular intervals. For the past three years Suffolk Punch population figures have been updated annually. Although the latest pedigree female registration figures (2015) are lower than those for previous years, breed populations are known to fluctuate from year to year, and the highest number of female registrations in over ten years was recorded in 2013.

Bees: Conservation

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to protect the UK's bee population against the invasive and predatory Asian hornet (Vespa velutina).

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: A contingency plan outlining the Government’s response against the Asian hornet is in place. The emergency measures it sets out are tested twice a year by the National Bee Unit (NBU) ensuring that all field inspectors and support staff are trained in how to respond should an outbreak occur. Following a confirmed sighting of the Asian hornet in Gloucestershire, the NBU enacted our established biosecurity protocols to confirm the scale of the outbreak and eradicate the pest. A single nest was located and destroyed. To date, no more live hornets have been seen in this area. The outbreak follows on from a policy review in 2013 whereby the NBU increased the number of risk-based exotic pest inspections it carries out each year. These are targeted at early interception of non-native invasive species such as the Asian hornet. NBU Bee Inspectors also routinely provide advice and training to beekeepers to raise awareness of the threat and the need for vigilance.

HM Treasury

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) prosecutions, and (2) convictions, in relation to fuel laundering there have been since 2014.

Lord Young of Cookham: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. All prosecutions have to be authorised by the relevant independent prosecuting authority, which for England and Wales would be the Crown Prosecution Service; for Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; and for Northern Ireland, the Public Prosecution Service for NI. HMRC’s record does not differentiate between the forms of fuel fraud it investigates and so they cannot identify Prosecution and Convictions for fuel laundering. Prosecutions and Convictions instigated for oils offences since 2014 were as follows:  2014-152015-16Up to September 2016Prosecutions34370Convictions62312 The figures for prosecutions and convictions in any particular year do not correspond as investigations and prosecutions do not always reach conclusion in the year that they commence.

Corporation Tax

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Fair Tax Mark for businesses.

Lord Young of Cookham: The Government has recently legislated for the publication of tax strategy by the largest businesses; promoting board accountability for tax, and encouraging transparency on approach to tax planning. In this context, the Government welcomes all business moves to improve transparency over their own tax affairs.

Cabinet Office

Joint Anti-Corruption Unit

Lord Hughes of Woodside: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 28 September (HL1957), how many full-time equivalent staff are employed on work for the Joint Anti-Corruption Unit; and what are the (1) staff, and (2) other, costs of that unit.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: 7​.6 full-time equivalent staff currently work in the Cabinet Office's Joint Anti-Corruption Unit (JACU). Staff and other costs are included in the figures set out in the Cabinet Office Annual Report. The last report, 2015-2016, is published on Gov.UK website. The next departmental report will be published at the end of the financial year 2016/17.

Electoral Register: Internet

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 15 June (HL Deb col 1218), what progress they have made in assessing the benefits of an online registration checking tool.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The Government recognises that finding a way to reduce the number of duplicate applications to register to vote would be beneficial for both citizens and electoral administrators. An online registration checking tool is one of many potential solutions.We are currently in the discovery phase of investigating the issue of duplicate applications and are scoping a number of options. Whether or not an online registration checking tool is the most viable solution will only become clear after this work has been completed.

Department of Health

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Baroness Suttie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following publication of their response to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, how they will coordinate the work of government across different departments.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The commitments included in the Government response will be incorporated into the United Kingdom antimicrobial resistance programme. The main body overseeing this programme is the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy High Level Steering Group. This committee is supported by a number of groups such as the AMR Cross Whitehall International Steering Group and by working together, they will ensure a coordinated approach.

Health Professions: Training

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are in place to train more new doctors and nurses in the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton: On 4 October 2016, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced that from September 2018, the Government will fund up to 1,500 additional undergraduate medical places through university medical schools each year. In November 2015, the reforms to nursing, midwifery and allied health pre-registration training were announced. The reforms aim to increase the number of training places by up to 10,000 by the end of the Parliament. As outlined in its Workforce Plan for England: Proposed Education and Training Commissions for 2016/17, Health Education England has increased the overall volume of education and training with, in excess of, 38,000 new training places in 2016-2017 for nurses, scientists and therapists, and there are now more than 50,000 doctors and dentists currently in training. A copy of the Plan is attached. The latest workforce statistics published by NHS Digital for July 2016 show that since May 2010 there are now almost 23,400 additional professionally qualified staff working in National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups, including more than 10,000 more doctors and 3,500 more nurses and midwives.



Workforce Plan for England 2016-17
(PDF Document, 2.05 MB)

Primary Health Care

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amalgamate primary care centres into larger units covering approximately 30,000 patients.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the NHS has the authority to require the amalgamation of local primary care centres; and if so, what is the extent of its powers.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their intention to amalgamate local primary care centres into larger units; and if so, when.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is (1) their policy, or (2) the policy of NHS England, that primary care centres should be amalgamated into larger units.

Lord Prior of Brampton: As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres. There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000. The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships. A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.

General Practitioners

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported growth in reliance on the employment of locum doctors in GP practices and the extent, if any, to which the employment of full-time doctors in GP practices has declined.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The latest statistics, published on 27 September, as at 31 March 2016, show that the total full time equivalent general practitioners (GPs), including locums was 34,914, an increase of 323, compared to September 2015.The same statistics showed that on 31 March 2016, there were 601 locums recorded as working in GP practices on that one day. On the day of 30 September 2015, 537 locums were recorded working in GP practices.Locum doctors cover a variety of roles, including vacancies and absences such as maternity, training and annual leave. Not all practices completed returns or provided detailed information on the type of GP that was working in the practice, on either 30 September and/or 31 March, which means that it is not possible to compare the data of September 2015 and March 2016.The data that NHS Digital publish on the general practice workforce is labelled provisional, experimental statistics, as they use a new methodology/data set and collection vehicles. These statistics replace the traditional GP census. The new data set, introduced in September 2015, collected information on locum doctors for the first time.

General Practitioners

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many GPs, broken down by region, are trained mental health specialists.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The information is not collected by the Department.

Hepatitis: Drugs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of NHS England having secured lower prices for the latest Hepatitis C drugs, whether they expect that progressively more patients will be treated in 2016–17 and future years.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit has recently concluded a tender which has resulted in some reductions in the cost of new hepatitis C drugs. These, and future reductions, support NHS England’s plans to increase treatment rates. NHS England has funded providers to treat 10,000 patients in the financial year 2016-17, and is expecting to treat more patients in the second half of the financial year. NHS England is already planning to increase treatment in 2017-18 to 12,500 patients, and is working with stakeholders to develop plans for a Strategic Multi-Year Procurement which aims to further improve the cost of these treatments and the opportunity to roll out treatment further.

Medical Treatments

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups do not arbitrarily restrict treatments for obese people and smokers.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Arbitrary restrictions on treatment by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are unacceptable. Treatment decisions should always be made by doctors based on a patient’s individual clinical needs. For instance, major surgery poses much higher risks for severely overweight patients and those who smoke. So, where it is clinically appropriate, local general practitioner-led CCGs are right to ensure these patients first get support to lose weight and try to stop smoking before their operation. NHS England must ensure that CCGs are not breaching their statutory responsibility to provide services that meet the reasonable needs of the local population, including obese people and smokers. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population and are based on the available evidence and take into account national guidelines.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in regard to those Clinical Commissioning Groups which plan to cut the proportion of their budget spent on mental health services for 2016–17.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England has set a clear requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that spending on mental health should increase year-on-year by an amount at least as great as the growth in their baseline allocations. CCGs are required through the NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2017-2019 to increase their baseline spend on mental health. A copy of this guidance is attached. From this year, NHS England’s budget and financial reporting will be aligned to specific mental health priorities, increasing transparency and allowing additional resources to be tracked at CCG level.



NHS Operational Planning Guidance
(PDF Document, 484.16 KB)

Drugs: Licensing

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 15 September (HL1768), and in the light of the need to maintain compliance with EU law until the UK leaves the EU, what steps they are taking now to ensure that once the UK has left the EU they are ready to move quickly to a new drugs and treatment approval regime.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government is now working to understand, in full, the implications of withdrawing from the European Union (EU) and to develop a future approach to medicines regulation. The Government will ensure that the United Kingdom’s approval regime is ready and operational as soon as the UK has formally departed the EU.